The Best Quote in the FCC National Broadband Report

“Technologies, costs and consumer preferences are changing too quickly in this dynamic part of the economy to make accurate predictions.” (P. 42)

I wholeheartedly agree! But does the agency really believe what it says? Because as I am reading through this tome, all I see is one prediction and prognostication after another. Indeed, in the very next paragraph that follows that one the agency starts making predictions about how many homes will be served by DSL vs. cable vs. fiber years from now. And the section about set-top box regulation is chock-full of techno-crystal ball gazing regarding what the future video marketplace should look like.

Apparently the FCC thinks that it’s impossible to predict the future… except when they are the ones doing the predicting. Oh, the hubris of it all!

Adam Thierer / Adam is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He previously served as President of the Progress & Freedom Foundation, Director of Telecom. Studies at the Cato Institute, and Fellow in Economic Policy at the Heritage Foundation.